Man and woman charged with sexually assaulting teen

DEVILS LAKE--Two Devils Lake residents have been charged with sexually assaulting an underage teen multiple times at different locations in Ramsey County, charging documents say.

Written By

April Baumgarten
Jul 5th 2018 - 3pm.

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DEVILS LAKE-Two Devils Lake residents have been charged with sexually assaulting an underage teen multiple times at different locations in Ramsey County, charging documents say.

Patrick Alan Leiphon, 51, and Sherene A. Kraft, 50, are set to appear Monday, July 9, in Ramsey County District Court in North Dakota on five charges each of gross sexual imposition, all of which are Class A felonies.

The two were arrested late last month after investigators said they were involved in the sexual assault of a teenager who is younger than 18 years old and is mentally impaired, according to court documents.

Charges detail at least five sexual assaults that allegedly took place between December and March in various parts of Ramsey County. During each incident, Kraft, who also is from Devils Lake, drove the teen to meet up with Leiphon, according to court documents. Once there, Leiphon would "engage in a sexual act" with the girl.

Court documents also say Kraft drove the girl to the locations "for the purpose of allowing a 51-year-old man to engage in a sexual act with a minor."

Leiphon is not named in Kraft's criminal complaint, but his criminal complaint lays out the same charges and details written in Kraft's.

The sexual assaults allegedly happened at a rural farm near Garske, N.D., a location near Penn, N.D., and in Devils Lake, according to court documents.

Each Class A felony carries a maximum punishment of 20 years in prison.

It's unclear how Leiphon and Kraft know each other or how they came to know the teenager.